The Cubs need a bullpen fix — and fast

Photo by Masterpress/Getty ImagesAl Yellon created Bleed Cubbie Blue and has been its managing editor since 2005. His latest book about the Cubs is "Chicago Cubs Firsts." Find him on Bluesky at @bleedcubbieblue.bsky.social

As a refresher, one of the things that torpedoed — to use a current baseball-related word — the Cubs’ 2024 season was some awful bullpen work over the first couple of months.

These are the pitchers who were in the Cubs’ Opening Day bullpen in 2024:

Yency Almonte, Adbert Alzolay, Jose Cuas, Mark Leiter Jr., Luke Little, Julian Merryweather, Hector Neris, Drew Smyly

Here are the pitchers who were in the Cubs’ Opening Day bullpen this year (using the North American opener last…